Isn't Kearney supposed to be 'one of the best trainers in the squad'? He's absolutely ripped anyway!One thing I think he could do with is a few hours catching and passing each day given some of his showings last season!

wixfjord wrote:Isn't Kearney supposed to be 'one of the best trainers in the squad'? He's absolutely ripped anyway!One thing I think he could do with is a few hours catching and passing each day given some of his showings last season!

plenty to work on based off of showings from last season, decision making at ruck time being particularly poor, resulting in him being penalty prone.

I wonder if Dowling will get a look this season. Looked to have bulked up a bit in the pictures from last weekend.

Kearney is a decent Pro14-level player. He has previously shown the ability to play at this level – moreso at Connacht than here, admittedly. He's 27 this season, he should be entering his prime given his position. He's got a good situation at Leinster – I think he really needs to try and take mental stock of what he's currently doing, get advice from the coaches of what he needs to do better, and make a very big effort to change his habits to see how he can improve and get more time on the pitch. That might mean more effort than reward: always being the first person out on the pitch, trying to burst guys in training, cleaning up diet to the level of absolutely no craic, doing extra flexibility/fitness/skill sessions etc. But he's on the edge in terms of his position in the squad, and where would you rather be than Leinster?

Tbf to him I don't think it's a lack of desire on his part. As Wixfjord said he's rated as a really hard trainer (Isa name checked him as the hardest worker in the squad IIRC) and he also wanted to go on loan last season but wasn't allowed. I can understand why we wouldn't let him go but maybe he feels he'd be back his best if he just got a run of games, hard not to think there's merit in that.

Kearney is a decent Pro14-level player. He has previously shown the ability to play at this level – moreso at Connacht than here, admittedly. He's 27 this season, he should be entering his prime given his position. He's got a good situation at Leinster – I think he really needs to try and take mental stock of what he's currently doing, get advice from the coaches of what he needs to do better, and make a very big effort to change his habits to see how he can improve and get more time on the pitch. That might mean more effort than reward: always being the first person out on the pitch, trying to burst guys in training, cleaning up diet to the level of absolutely no craic, doing extra flexibility/fitness/skill sessions etc. But he's on the edge in terms of his position in the squad, and where would you rather be than Leinster?

Tbf to him I don't think it's a lack of desire on his part. As Wixfjord said he's rated as a really hard trainer (Isa name checked him as the hardest worker in the squad IIRC) and he also wanted to go on loan last season but wasn't allowed. I can understand why we wouldn't let him go but maybe he feels he'd be back his best if he just got a run of games, hard not to think there's merit in that.

True. Any time he played last season he looked a bit rusty - e.g. vs the Cheetahs down there - and never seemed to get the string of games necessary to get rid of said rustiness. With a bit of luck things might work out for him this season. Here's hoping!!!!

his performances didn't warrant continued selection, sorry this isn't Connacht, if you perform poorly you will generally lose your place. He has 35 caps since he joined, i'd say you could count on one hand his standout positive performances.

LeRouxIsPHat wrote:Tbf to him I don't think it's a lack of desire on his part. As Wixfjord said he's rated as a really hard trainer (Isa name checked him as the hardest worker in the squad IIRC) and he also wanted to go on loan last season but wasn't allowed. I can understand why we wouldn't let him go but maybe he feels he'd be back his best if he just got a run of games, hard not to think there's merit in that.

It's good to hear that he's a hard trainer and is rated by Isa – there's nobody you'd prefer praise from. The desire simply to work hard is a big element of second row play. All good locks have it, and any lock who doesn't have it isn't a good lock.

From my perspective, there's a role for him in the squad, but he has to play well enough to earn the coaches' trust before he can take it. We're going to have a tall, young backrow for significant parts of the season [all four of Max Deegan, Josh Murphy, Will Connors and Caelan Doris are legitimately 193cm/6'4" or taller] and as a result we should need less help at the lineout from our locks but more shunt at the scrum, more solidity in the maul and more impact at rucks. Fingers crossed that he can do it.

I'm afraid Nagle is a lost cause in my book, and I was pretty positive about him joining. Would like to see Jack Dunne get a push, because I don't think that there's anything more to come from Nagle and what he has shown just hasn't been good enough.

Dunne has lots of potential but still looks like he is growing into his body athletically.. only turns 20 at end of November so that's to be expected.. would be notable if he made his debut this season given his youth.

mildlyinterested wrote:Dunne has lots of potential but still looks like he is growing into his body athletically.. only turns 20 at end of November so that's to be expected.. would be notable if he made his debut this season given his youth.

You're probably right. I suppose I wrote that more in hope than expectation.

On the other hand, he's got a full season at U20s behind him - going from the Irish Rugby website he played 796 of a possible 800mins over both tournaments. That puts a tick beside his name for a couple of reasons: firstly he was obviously a mainstay of the team and one of the first names down, and secondly he was able to get through all those games without picking up niggles or more serious injuries.

Over the last couple of seasons, lads seem to be readier for professional rugby earlier than they were even four or five years ago.

mildlyinterested wrote:Dunne has lots of potential but still looks like he is growing into his body athletically.. only turns 20 at end of November so that's to be expected.. would be notable if he made his debut this season given his youth.

You're probably right. I suppose I wrote that more in hope than expectation.

On the other hand, he's got a full season at U20s behind him - going from the Irish Rugby website he played 796 of a possible 800mins over both tournaments. That puts a tick beside his name for a couple of reasons: firstly he was obviously a mainstay of the team and one of the first names down, and secondly he was able to get through all those games without picking up niggles or more serious injuries.

Over the last couple of seasons, lads seem to be readier for professional rugby earlier than they were even four or five years ago.

Lads from St. Michaels especially..

He was a mainstay in the 20's team alright, but pretty raw in some aspects IMO. But good potential there as a TH lock, given frame etc.

LEO CULLEN IS facing into an early-season selection headache after it was confirmed Ciaran Frawley will miss a number of weeks with the arm injury he sustained against Newcastle Falcons last Friday.

The 20-year-old suffered a heavy knock to his right arm in the opening exchanges of Leinster’s 42-17 pre-season defeat to the Falcons and after leaving Donnybrook in a sling, will now be sidelined for the start of the province’s Pro14 campaign.

Will Connors is also facing a period on the sidelines after doing ‘a bit of damage’ to his knee in the first minute of last Friday’s hit-out at Donnybrook, but Joe Tomane presented well after the game despite hobbling off with a knee issue.

The Australian centre is expected to be fit for the opening game of Leinster’s title defence at the Cardiff Arms Park on Friday week, but with back-to-back away fixtures to kick off the campaign, Cullen is wary of the challenges around the corner.

LEO CULLEN IS facing into an early-season selection headache after it was confirmed Ciaran Frawley will miss a number of weeks with the arm injury he sustained against Newcastle Falcons last Friday.

The 20-year-old suffered a heavy knock to his right arm in the opening exchanges of Leinster’s 42-17 pre-season defeat to the Falcons and after leaving Donnybrook in a sling, will now be sidelined for the start of the province’s Pro14 campaign.

Will Connors is also facing a period on the sidelines after doing ‘a bit of damage’ to his knee in the first minute of last Friday’s hit-out at Donnybrook, but Joe Tomane presented well after the game despite hobbling off with a knee issue.

The Australian centre is expected to be fit for the opening game of Leinster’s title defence at the Cardiff Arms Park on Friday week, but with back-to-back away fixtures to kick off the campaign, Cullen is wary of the challenges around the corner.

bad news for Will Connors after it was confirmed he damaged his ACL in that friendly and is now facing an extended period on the sidelines as he begins a lengthy rehab programme.

Leinster provided a further injury update on a number of their returning internationals, including Dan Leavy and Sean O’Brien who are both ‘progressing well’ with their respective comebacks from shoulder injury.

Garry Ringrose and Josh van der Flier will both return to some form of on-field training this week as they continue their returns from foot and knee problems.

Joe Tomane, meanwhile, is due to be available for selection this week after shaking off the foot injury which forced him off during the second half of the 42-17 reversal to the Falcons.

Noel Reid IS expected to recover from a quad injury in time for Leinster’s Pro14 title defence opener.

It's extremely small by the standards of our backrow – 10kg lighter than Will Connors, the lightest backrow on the senior books, and 13kg lighter than JVDF, the next lightest. I just don't see him as being effective at that size.

That comes across as being one dimensional, but it's an important dimension. Neil Back was a similar size [listed at 178cm and 93kg], but by Martin Johnson's accounts he was the outstandingly best player in the country – not just in his position – at every age grade he played for England until he got into the national side in 1994. Max Kearney couldn't force his way into one of the worst Irish U20s sides in the last decade, so realistically I don't think he could make a viable contribution at pro level this season. Would be happy to be proven wrong.

As you say, I think most likely we'll see Rhys play a good bit at openside for us at the start of the season. It will affect our game but should provide for more opportunities for Doris off the bench.

Just bumped into Sean O'Brien at lunch [he was taking up the whole pavement] and he looks to have got himself in tremendous nick. Never seen him bigger or fitter looking at any stage in his career. Here's hoping he can put some games together for us.

hugonaut wrote:Just bumped into Sean O'Brien at lunch [he was taking up the whole pavement] and he looks to have got himself in tremendous nick. Never seen him bigger or fitter looking at any stage in his career. Here's hoping he can put some games together for us.

Not having a go at you personally Hugo but, and this goes for all of us here, if you see SOB on the street, try not to bump into him. We'll need him this season.

You know I'm going to lose,And gambling's for fools,But that's the way I like it baby, I don't want to live FOREVER!